Thursday, March 31, 2016

The eagerly awaited movie "Miles Ahead" -- directed & starred by Don Cheadle -- opens tomorrow, April 1st, in Los Angeles and New York! And its soundtrack will be officially on sale also tomorrow.
Opening nationwide on April 22!

Sunshine people of LA: Meet Don Cheadle at in-theater Q&As this weekend!

In the midst of a dazzling and prolific career at the forefront of modern jazz innovation, Miles Davis (Don Cheadle) virtually disappears from public view for a period of five years in the late 1970s. Alone and holed up in his home, he is beset by chronic pain from a deteriorating hip, his musical voice stifled and numbed by drugs and pain medications, his mind haunted by unsettling ghosts from the past. [Sony Pictures Classics]

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Shunzo Ohno presents "ReNew" (his 16th album as a leader) on Friday, April 1, at 7:00 at Leonard Nimoy Thalia @ Peter Norton Symphony Space, located at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, New York, NY 10025.

Tickets, which range $25-35, are available now by visiting www.symphonyspace.org or by calling 212-864-5400.

Ohno, one of the most versatile and influential trumpeters in modern jazz, leads an ensemble of paramount musicians including bassist Mark Egan, drummer Billy Kilson, pianist David Berkman, keyboardist Clifford Carter and tabla master, Ray Spiegel.

"ReNew" injects elements of traditional jazz, hip hop, spoken word, and free jazz, creating a tapestry of modern jazz that is distinctly Shunzo Ohno. With 'recovery to discovery' in mind, the genre-defying album is a testament to those affected by catastrophic events that have taken place throughout the world including the 2011 tsunami in Japan.

The concert performance will begin with the documentary film, "Never Defeated, The Shunzo Ohno Story," which is based on Ohno's powerful life experiences. The music for the film centers on The International Songwriting Competition Grand Prize award song, "Musashi."

"ReNew" embraces a diverse spectrum of generations, masterful interplay and interpretations of music. Each of the compositions, confront life's uncharted circumstances both on global and personal conditions, illuminating vigor, dignity, hope and freedom with a renewed spirit.

Born in Gifu Prefecture, Japan, Shunzo's rise to prominence began in 1974, when he accepted an offer to perform with the legendary jazz drummer Art Blakey. Following his tenure with Blakey, Shunzopropelled with a series of important collaborations, including ones with Machito and his Afro-Cuban Orchestra, Wayne Shorter, Larry Coryell, Herbie Hancock, and Gil Evans, who was a long-time collaborator of Shunzo's. Shunzo has recorded 16 albums as a leader and has been featured on two Grammy winning recordings.

Shunzo's life encountered much adversity, including a serious automobile accident and the diagnosis of stage 4 throat cancer. Through both of these life-changing events, he continuously creates inspiration to not only overcome these challenges, but redevelop his unique sound and musical voice, admired by a global community.

In 2014, Shunzo won the International Songwriting Competition's grand prize with his composition Musashi, making Shunzo the first jazz recipient of this prestigious award. Lea's Run included on this recording, also won an award with the ISC, the following year.

In recent years, Shunzo has been touring the globe, performing frequently in Hong Kong, Malaysia, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and various US cities. Shunzo's tours are concurrently supporting the recovery efforts following the tsunami/nuclear failure in Japan and recently, the earthquake in Nepal. Feb/March 2016 he will visit Northern Japan recognizing the 5th anniversary of the Tsunami/nuclear failure. The possibilities for a harmonious global society lie in a prosperous recovery.

"[Shunzo Ohno]... plays tight, crisply phrased lines with a stabbing rhythmic effect. Without the mute, his open tone has a broad, ringing sound that soars through high-powered driving lines..." The New York Times

TICKET INFORMATION
General tickets are available at www.symphonyspace.org or by calling (212) 864 5400. Seating is limited.
Advance tickets $30
At the door $35
Senior/ Student rate $25
a contribution of $5.00 per cd will be donated to the continuos recovery efforts in Northern Japan.

Saturday, March 26, 2016

One of the most-in-demand musicians in the NY scene of the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s, trumpet master Joe Shepley passed away today, March 26, 2016, at age 85 in Yonkers, NY.

He was a member of such bands as the David Matthews Orchestra (as well as of Matthews' Manhattan Jazz Orchestra), Duke Pearson's Big Band, Pond Life, The Charlie Calello Orchestra, The Pond Life Orchestra, Mike Longo's New York State of the Art Jazz Ensemble, and also played on Eumir Deodato's combo during the "2001 heyday" of the Brazilian maestro.

Actually, we became friends when I was supervising and writing the liner notes for the first CD reissue of Deodato's "In Concert - Live At Felt Forum" (a.k.a. The CTI Space Concert) and interviewed him. In recent years, we used to correspond through Facebook, after he joined my friend Mike Longo's New York State of the Art Jazz Ensemble in 2006, recording the "Explosion" album.

But the first time I had heard Shepley in a solo spot was on David Matthews' masterpiece concept album, "Dune" (CTI, 1977), on which he was featured playing the melody (on flugelhorn) on John Williams' "Princess Leia's Theme," a beautiful ballad from the "Star Wars" soundtrack.

And I watch him very often on a splendid DVD by Matthews' Manhattan Jazz Orchestra filmed 20 years later in Japan for Panasonic, titled "Great Jazz In Kobe '97."

Joseph James Shepley was born on August 7, 1930 to Joseph and Eleanor Nyahay Shepley in Yonkers where he was raised and attended local schools. Joseph served his country in the US Army from 1952 to 1954 serving in Korea. He married Helen Dedyo on September 25, 1955 in Holy Trinity Church in Yonkers, she survives living in Yonkers. Joseph belonged to Local 802 Musicians Union. He began playing professionally in 1942 at the age of 12, he graduated with his Master's Degree from The Manhattan School of Music in 1957. The rest is history.

Besides his wife Helen he is also survived by his son Joe Shepley of Oak Park, IL. 3 daughters Maryellen Shepley of Mt. Vernon, NY, Susan Cuevas Bennett of Long Island, and Pamela Quinn of Tarrytown, NY, 11 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his brother Donald Shepley in 2006. Visiting hours will be at the Whalen & Ball Funeral Home on Monday from 7-9pm and Tuesday from 12-4pm. A funeral service will be at 3pm.

In lieu of flowers the family is asking that you make a donation in Joe's name to The Musicians Assistance Fund (MAP) at Local 802 Musicians Union. Donations can be made to Local 802 Musicians Assistance Program Local 802 AFM 322 West 48th Street, New York, NY 10036.

Baker was an aspiring trombone player then, but he would grow to be a Grammy-nominated artist with more than 1,000 compositions. He took up the cello after a car accident injured muscles in his face.

Among Baker’s honors are becoming an Indiana Living Legend in 2001, an NEA Jazz Master in 2000, a Grammy nominee in 1979 and Pulitzer Prize nominee in 1972.

He taught and performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, according to Baker's retirement biography, written by Luke Gillespie. He also co-founded the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.

David Nathaniel Baker, Jr. is Distinguished Professor of Music and Chairman of the Jazz Department at Indiana University. A virtuosic performer on multiple instruments and top in his field in several disciplines, Dr. Baker has taught and performed throughout the USA, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia, New Zealand, and Japan. For the past 14 years he has served as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. He has written over 70 books on jazz improvisation, jazz composition and arranging, jazz pedagogy, how to learn tunes, how to practice, and other related topics. He also has more than 400 articles and 75 recordings to his credit.

Baker received both bachelor's and master's degrees in music education from Indiana University, and honorary doctorates from Oberlin College, Wabash College, and the New England Conservatory of Music. He has studied with a wide range of master teachers, performers, and composers including J.J. Johnson, Bobby Brookmeyer, Janos Starker, George Russell, William Russo, Bernard Heiden, and Gunther Schuller. A 1973 Pulitzer Prize nominee, Dr. Baker also has been nominated for a Grammy Award, honored three times by Down Beat magazine (as a trombonist, for lifetime achievement, and induction into the Jazz Education Hall of Fame), and is a recipient of the National Association of Jazz Educators Hall of Fame Award, Indiana University President's Award for Distinguished Teaching, the Arts Midwest Jazz Masters Award, and the Governor's Arts Award of the State of Indiana. He is also a recipient of jazz's hightest honor: the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Award.

As a composer, Dr. Baker has been commissioned by more than 500 individuals and ensembles, including Josef Gingold, Ruggerio Ricci, Janos Starker, Harvey Phillips, the New York Philharmonic, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Beaux Arts Trio, Fisk Jubilee Singers, Louisville Symphony, Ohio Chamber Orchestra, the Audubon String Quartet, and the International Horn Society. His compositions, tallying over 2,000 in number, range from jazz and sonatas to film scores.

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

World renowned guitarist and composer Fabrizio Sotti proudly announces the June 10 release of "Forty", his fourth album as a leader. A private stream of the album can be accessed here and promotional copies will be available in April 2016. The release of "Forty" will be celebrated on June 9 at the Highline Ballroom in New York City as part of the Blue Note Jazz Festival. The release of "Forty" also coincides with the release of the D'Angelico EX-SS Fabrizio Sotti Signature Model guitar.

Using the D'Angelico guitar as his brush, Sotti paints a dynamic sonic picture that presents him as not just an extraordinary and innovative improviser, but as the harbinger of a unique and distinctive sound that is completely his own. In the words of revered writer and critic Ted Panken, the title, "Forty", testifies to Sotti's assertion that the onset of his fifth decade signifies a sea change in both his personal life-path and aesthetic development. "Forty is more than arriving at one spot," Sotti says. "It's starting from the beginning to a new place. Artistically, as you get older, you understand how much you still have to discover, how much more deeply you can go into yourself to improve your playing and understand what you really want to say."

On "Forty" Sotti collaborated with two jazz visionaries in their own right: bassist Peter Slavov and drummer Francisco Mela. "Peter is a complete musician with a strong melodic sense and a thorough classical music background. He's able to be free while respecting the tradition. Francisco also brings a melodic approach and is completely a free thinker. He's a force of nature. When he swings, it swings hard; when he's not swinging, it's so creative, he fills up the music with something magical," says Sotti.

"Forty" lays its groundwork for the forthcoming 9 tracks with the autobiographical "Redemption", a 3/4 minor blues that Sotti says represents the "redemption between myself and people around me, to accept me for who I really am." Sotti unleashes the full measure of his jazz chops on "Dangerous Walk," a brisk, disjunctive, Monkish line "inspired by the walk of women, and particularly my wife," and "Is That What You Think" a B-flat blues with a melody Sotti describes as 'aggressive.' The mood changes on "Beginning Now," played a cappella by Sotti on nylon string guitar but then progresses into the iconic "How Insensitive," which Sotti's grandmother played for him before he was a child. The trio returns for the calypso-flavored "Thalia," named for Sotti's year-old daughter, and written a few weeks before her birth. "The happy melody is how I felt when we were waiting for her and how she makes me feel now." Following is the expressive ballad "So Far, So Close," rendered as a Sotti-Slavov duo, which was written for his younger brother.

For Sotti, the title track represents "how I like to play right now--you can hear the joyful playfulness between these different rhythms, going from a modern funk rubato to a straight ahead swinging thing, playing what I like with nothing to prove." The final track, "The Bridge", along with its preceding introduction entirely represents Sotti's mature voice. It's a love song with a bluesy connotation named for the Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs) in Venice, where Sotti and his bride decided to get married.

With this new release, Sotti presents a departure for a new group that is only scratching the surface of possibilities. Says Sotti, "This album shows where I am as a guitarist, improviser and composer and of what's to come."

UPCOMING U.S. APPEARANCES:
Malibu Guitar Festival, Malibu, CA, April 28-May 1
Highline Ballroom, New York City, June 9
(more to be announced)

MORE ABOUT FABRIZIO SOTTI:
A New Yorker since 1991, when he emigrated from Padua, Italy, as an ambitious, jazz obsessed 16-year-old, Sotti drew on a broad palette of jazz-imparted musical knowledge when producing hit tracks with artists like Dead Prez,Ghostface Killah, Q-Tip, Tupac, and Whitney Houston while still in his twenties, as well as two collaborations Glamoured, from 2003, and Another Country, from 2012, with the great jazz diva,Cassandra Wilson . In parallel, he built a distinguished career as a highly-respected jazz stylist, documented on three accomplished recordings--This World Upside Down, from 1999, with jazz titans Randy Brecker, John Patitucci and Al Foster;Through My Eyes, from 2003, a solo guitar recital; and Inner Dance, from 2010, with organist Sam Barsh, drummer Victor Jones, and percussionist Mino Cinelu.

Monday, March 21, 2016

Reserve your tables early to get the best spots! Just call Herb Alpert's Vibrato at 310-474-9400. Paris Chansons have a truly unique and exciting niche - authentic French music with an international twist.

Now they are back @ Vibrato (2930 Beverly Glen Circle, Los Angeles) by popular demand! Paris Chansons is LA’s premier French band. Recently featured on the CBS/KCAL news, they are known for their original renditions of French favorites from Aznavour, Brel, Dassin, Piaf, Montand all the way to contemporary artists like Zaz. Their exhilarating performances are punctuated with traditional jazz standards as well as classics in Russian, Italian, and other languages.

Four multilingual singers bring an unparalleled diversity to their shows. Julia Kantor, originally from the Ukraine, lived and studied in France where she discovered in French music a soul connection that still imbues every performance. She entrances from the stage with a sultry voice and dynamic presence. Together with her husband, Jacob, a Russian-born singer/songwriter, they launched Paris Chansons.

Max Cohen grew up in Morocco steeped in French music, particularly the songs of Enrico Macias. Max’s rich velvety tone delivers beautifully nuanced renditions of his favorites, complete with a signature North African lilt. Jean-Louis Darville, born in Paris, is not only a gifted vocalist but also a professional actor. He approaches each song like a theatrical performance and lets the music take over, adding a unique spin to the beloved songs of Brel, Gainsbourg and Montand, among others.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

(born on August 5, 1968 in Bremen, Germany;
died on March 11, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan)

Lutz Büchner, saxophonist with the NDR Big Band died in Tokyo following a heart attack on March 11th 2016 at the age of just 47.

This tribute is by Martin Laurentius and appeared in its original form in jazzthing (original German text below). This English version is published with their kind permission.

It was when Lutz Büchner stepped forward in front of the band to the solo mic, when the limelight was on him, that the saxophonist really seemed to flourish and to thrive. He brought the stories he had to tell to the attention of the listener with his eloquent phrasing. His tone on both saxophone and clarinet didn't just have emotional depth, there was also a mature intellect behind it. That combination of attributes allowed him to decorate, to vary and to develop his narratives.

Büchner had that special gift of being to draw his audience in completely, right from the very first note he played. As a person, he left a very different impression when you first met him. He was more reserved, he had a quiet sense of humour, he was a team-player who sought out the togetherness of being in a group.

That was a characteristic which set him in good stead for the twenty-two years during which he worked as a member of the NDR Big Band. Even when soloing up front at the edge of the stage he carried with him in his mind’s ear the totality of what had just been played. He was also preoccupied as part of the saxophone section of the radio orchestra to ensure that the others could sound good. “My ambition,” he would say concisely, “is to play completely in the moment.”

This was a credo he had in common with his fellow saxophonist Herb Geller. Büchner was born in Bremen in 1968 and studied jazz saxophone with Geller at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater. The time spent with Geller brought him both the practical craft of playing the instrument and the contextual framework of jazz. “Through jazz,” he explained, “I found a far more playful way to engage with music. When I improvise, I can search out for myself what I am going to play and when I am going to play it, and I can develop a musical flow far better through doing that.”

In 1994 Büchner was employed by the NDR Big Band, but always found time for other projects. He had his own quartet, and also worked as side-man in the bands of the Danish drummer Alex Riel and the orchestra of the bass trombonist Ed Partyka.

At the beginning of March, Büchner set off on a tour of Japan with the NDR Bigband. Among other concerts, they played a "Weather Report And More" programme at the Blue Note in Tokyo on March 9th and 10th.

He died in Tokyo on 11th March following a heart attack. Programme Director of NDR Radio Joachim Knuth said: “ Lutz Bücher had a playful love of music. For the NDR Big Band, as well as for the broadcaster NDR, the death of this formidable saxophonist is a huge loss.”
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Lutz BüchnerIst am 11. März 47-jährig gestorben: Saxofonist Lutz Büchner

Ace guitarist John Tropea (one of my favorite artists since I heard his solos on Deodato's albums like "Prelude," "Deodato 2" and "Whirlwinds" as well as his own projects for TK Marlin) leads his all-star band tonight, March 12 @ The Falcon (1348 Route SW, Marlboro, NY). 7pm!

John Tropea is one of the most admired and highly regarded guitar players of his generation. His playing shows a vast knowledge and respect for the tradition of the instrument as well as an original style that continues to define how the guitar best serves a wide variety of musical styles. He is a musician’s musician who attracts the finest players for his own projects.

Tropea has written for and played with major recording artists worldwide. In his long career, his contributions to other artist’s successes, include his solo work with Deodato, (2001 theme), projects with Laura Nyro, Harry Chapin (Cat’s in the Cradle), Paul Simon (Fifty Ways), Alice Cooper (Goes to Hell), Eric Clapton (Journey Man), Dr. John, among others.

He is also a composer, arranger, and producer whose vital work is demonstrated by his personal projects. Tropea has a deserved worldwide reputation (specially in Japan, where he recently toured with Steve Gadd as special guest) as an artist of quality among both audiences and other musicians.